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The Labyrinth
Category: Shopping Books, Mags, Music and Video Comic Books Comic Books [Edit]
386 Bloor St WToronto, ON M5R
Neighbourhood: The Annex
(416) 840-4506
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
6 reviews for The Labyrinth
6 reviews in English
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Review from Jeremiah L.
Toronto, ON
8/24/2011
The Labyrinth is an amazing shop in the city. While Toronto has plenty of comic and manga shops, the Labyrinth specializes in illustration books for popular series and games, often importing them from Japan and elsewhere.
They have other trinkets as well, paintings from artist, toys, and a variety of standard comics. Service is friendly, and they'll even special order an item if you need help finding it.
One of the best reasons to get off at Bathurst! -
Review from Lola L.
3/10/2011
Labyrinth is the sort of place that you go to if you are looking for your average kind of stop-and-grab spot. While bright, the shop is small, it's cramped, and there's usually only one staff member so you'll have to be patient if you have any questions. Not conducive to browsing.
They carry an alright selection of manga, comics, art books as well as paraphernalia like bookends and figurines, etc. They also have a buy 10 get 1 free deal and charge US cover price, so those are both good things.
However! Their "free comic book" days are basically unmanageable because of the size of the shop and how its innards are arranged. If you are more than a fairweather comics fan, they just don't have the kind of stock to accommodate your needs. Once we were looking for Charles Burns' Black Hole--a staple, I'd say--and they had it behind the counter, not out on the shelf. What's that about? They also don't support local artists and writers as much as they could. I've heard that they sometimes do art shows but I've never seen them promoted and I'm not sure I would go if I did because.. well, where on earth would the art go and where would people stand to gaze at it? This place is tiny!
Bottom line: save your cash and go two blocks over to The Beguiling in Mirvish Village, which is generally better in every respect. -
Review from Nate G.
Toronto, ON
5/26/2010
I like Labyrinth.
It's main feature is that it's close to my house, so it has that going for it. But besides that, the place is always clean, cool, and the staff is really friendly, laid-back, and accommodating.
Selection is somewhat small compared to some places, but they almost always have what I'm looking for and if I don't they are happy to order it in.
I love the front of the store where they display all the new/hot/relevant trade paperbacks. I often browse there when I don't know what to read next. Everything I've bought from that section has been awesome.
Also they have a program where every 10th trade you buy you get for free (kinda.. depends on the price.. they'll give you a credit if it's expensive).
So yeah I have no issues with this place. -
Review from Alejandro A.
Toronto, ON
11/28/2008
A narrow, sometimes cramped store, The Labyrinth is, in addition to being a comic book store, an art book store. They specialize in art books relating to sequential arts as well as animation and graphic design. This is what makes these guys unique in Toronto's comic retail landscape. It's an excellent shop to visit if you're interested in the design process that goes into making your favourite graphic novels and cartoons.
That's not to say that they don't sell comics and manga. They do that as well, and often you can find books here that you'll have a hard time finding at other places like 1,000,000 Comix or Silver Snail.
They've also been known to put on the occasional art show, which is a great testament to their support for the art community in Toronto. -
Review from Kim B.
ON
12/23/2008 2 photos
I'm always intimidated when I go into hard core comic book stores, because the extent of my comic knowledge stems from the Archie Comics I read growing up, and I don't think they're decidedly "cool" in the comic world.
However, this store is slightly different because it carries art books too, some of which I happen to know a fair bit about. And so, my confidence returns and I feel comfortable that no one is going to challenge me to a spontaneous comic book final Jeopardy round. -
Review from Mike S.
Toronto, ON
11/14/2008
I'm not deep into comic book culture but I imagine that there is a rift between people who like Mavel and DC and people who like Manga. I don't get Manga and honestly it kinda creeps me out but I did like Labyrinth which is a store that specializes in Manga art. For all those of you on the other side of the comic book world , this store does have a very healthy selection of the comics we all know and love, but it also has a very good comic art book collection which I really liked. The one thing that comics are not appreciated enough for is the art within and it think that it is more easily appreciated when you take it out of the story and let it stand alone and in this case the art does a very good job of holding its own. I would recommend this store to anyone who likes comic book art and to Japanese pre-teens who for some reason love Manga.
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